60% of Voters Say Supreme Court Should Base Rulings on Constitution

Thirty-two percent (32%) of likely voters say the Supreme Court is doing a good or excellent job. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 20% give the Honorables poor ratings (crosstabs available for Premium Members).

These approval ratings for the Supreme Court are essentially identical to those found in the last survey conducted in mid-August.

Earlier this year, perceptions of the court improved after it issued a popular opinion upholding the Second Amendment while striking down a Washington, DC law banning handguns in the city.

During his acceptance speech last night at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota, John McCain told the audience, “We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don't legislate from the bench.” Most American voters (60%) agrees and says the Supreme Court should make decisions based on what is written in the constitution, while 30% say rulings should be guided on the judge’s sense of fairness and justice. The number who agree with McCain is up from 55% in August.

While 82% of voters who support McCain believe the justices should rule on what is in the Constitution, just 29% of Barack Obama’s supporters agree. Just 11% of McCain supporters say judges should rule based on the judge’s sense of fairness, while nearly half (49%) of Obama supporters agree.

In terms of how the Supreme Court currently makes decisions, just 42% of voters think the justices rule from what is in the Constitution. Thirty-percent (30%) say they are guided by a sense of fairness and justice. Democrats are more likely than Republicans and unaffiliated voters to believe the justices base rulings on the Constitution.

The survey also found that 65% of voters think the Supreme Court justices have their own political agendas. That number has changed little over the past month. Just 18% believe the judges remain impartial when making decisions.

Nearly all voters believe the selection of Supreme Court justices by the president is important. The majority (63%) believe it is very important. Just 8% think the selection process by the president is not important.

Ratings for the Supreme Court are much more positive than those of Congress. The latest Rasmussen survey found that just 9% say Congress is doing a good or excellent job.

My review of the For Liberty documentary:digg.com/d315eji
(please Digg and post comments on the HuffPost site)

"This political train-wreck Republicans face can largely be traced to Bush’s philosophical metamorphosis from a traditional, non-interventionist conservative to the neoconservatives’ exemplar of a 'War President', and his positioning of the Republicans as the 'War Party'."

Gutzman talks about how most rulings are based upon precedent instead of the Constitution. This means that the course like to rely on what's already been decided to make their decision, even if it is at odds to the Constitution.